As record arctic temperatures blasted through the United States, regatta organizers from the Miami Rowing and Watersports Center announced this week the bid acceptance of both the Holy Spirit Men and Women's Varsity 8's from Absecon, New Jersey to race at the 37th Annual Miami International Regatta to be held on Sunday March 7, 2010 at the Miami Marine Stadium.
Hailing from the South Jersey shore, Holy Spirit caught the attention of regatta organizers not only with their long tradition of excellence, but also with their fantastic season last spring highlighted by the boys gritty .43 second bronze medal finish at Stotesbury, and their girls incredible .136 second sprint for the bronze at Scholastic Nationals.
"They obviously love to race and since our squad had the chance to take a break from the Florida sunshine, flirt with hypothermia, and play in the snow at the Head of the Charles; we thought it would really be cool to invite a team from up north to the Miami International Regatta to take a break from the snow, catch some rays, and …maybe get a sunburn," quipped Miami Rowing Club Head Coach, and former Olympian, Monk Terry.
"Our guys are thrilled and it's a huge privilege for the Florida high school teams to have this opportunity to race against one of the best men's high school scholastic teams in the United States," said Miami Rowing Club Men's Varsity Coach, Andy Parrish.
Newly hired Miami Women's Varsity coach, Julio Villeya, found inspiration when he heard news before his first day on the job. "This will be a fantastic early season opportunity for the MRC Varsity Women to test their speed against a quality team like Holy Spirit, and will definitely help push us during the long winter training period and give us a chance to measure our teams character, competitiveness, and potential."
Holy Spirit coaches Brian Duffey, and Joe Welsh also echoed the anticipation, and excitement. "After I announced the news to my guys in the middle of practice, pieces were at an entirely different level of intensity. My guys are pumped, and we are looking forward to the early season test of boat speed," noted Duffey as Welsh looked forward to some warm weather when accepting the invitation. "We're hoping that a few days of practice time without the worry of wind and cold - even snow- would be helpful to the girls that are working to make our top eights later in the spring."
In its 37th year, the Miami International Regatta is one of the oldest high school and master regattas and led by new Miami Rowing Club manager, Katie Davis. "We're working on spicing things up a bit by creating some interesting early season match ups, and should hear back soon from some other teams of Holy Spirit's caliber. Perennial Florida powerhouse, Winter Park, has already committed to returning to the regatta, and I am working with other teams that are trying to reshuffle their race schedules to make it down here, including an elite team from Brazil and a youth sculling team from Peru," said Davis.
Located at the Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key, Katie is also hoping the regatta will raise awareness on city plans to redevelop Virginia Key and the stadium. "It's a beautiful venue for a regatta, with a lot of wildlife including Lemon sharks and a pod of dolphins that hung out during last years Miami International Regatta. The kids used to be excited about the sharks but honestly, are now really wound up about the fast teams headed this way and the convertible Mini Cooper and Hudson Single we are raffling off at the regatta."
For Further information on the 37th annual Miami International Regatta contact Katie Davis at [[email protected]] or check out www.miamirowing.org
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